Obituary of Timothy Roberson

Timothy Roberson Timothy Roberson was born January 11, 1936 at 2:07pm, the only son born to Gordon and Elizabeth Estes Roberson. Timothy grew up on a small farm in Bear Swamp NY, and went on to raise his own family nearby in Sempronius, NY with his wife of 71 years, Maxine Lee Roberson. Together they had 7 children, 16 grandchildren, and 30 great grandchildren. Tim's devotion to working and providing for his family was exemplary until the end of his life. Tim met his wife, Maxine, at age 15 when he went fishing with her brother and she tagged along. They fell in love and were married at age 17. Soon after they were married, Tim and Maxine left the farm and Tim began employment at Thompson Boat Factory in Cortland, N.Y. He soon moved on to his own self-employed business ventures at a young age, which he was successful at until his final retirement in 2023. Tim's first venture in owning and operating his own business began with Timothy Roberson Spray Painting. Many of the farms and houses in the nearby country side were spray painted by Tim in the 1960s and 1970s. He then bought a portable feed mill and began Timothy Roberson Mobile Feed Milling in 1966 in addition to the spray-painting business, providing feed grinding service to Cayuga County farmers for 17 years. After 17 years of the feed-milling, Tim began business in the wood industry starting out with cutting pulpwood and firewood (selling up to 2,500 face cord a year). In 1984 Tim purchased a Wood-Mizer portable sawmill and added sawing lumber to his business ventures. He successfully operated Timothy Roberson Portable Sawmilling for the remainder of his life for customers throughout Central New York. He officially retired at the age of 87 having owned a total of seven Wood-Mizer portable saw-mills over the years. Tim developed many skills, talents, and hobbies through his lifetime. Among his interests were various motorsports. He modified old cars into stock cars and raced them when he was young and then began participating in motorcycle enduro racing and hill climbing. He was very skillful at both of these sports and has numerous trophies to show for it. He has owned a number of both off road and on road motorcycles and enjoyed this sport immensely. His first motorcycle was a 1947 Indian Chief road bike that he bought in 1963. One of Timothy's delights was to share his love of the area he called home, as well as his pride in past work experiences. When discussing or driving around the area with friends and family, he had many points of interest to share of where he had once worked or had an experience. Among Timothy's greatest devotions was his and his wife's longstanding service as temple workers in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They began their service in the Toronto Temple, and upon its dedication in 2000 they remained in service for many years at the Palmyra, N.Y. Temple. Tim appreciated life immensely. He loved to be outdoors. He enjoyed his work and his home projects, chocolate milk and ice cream, and his quiet prankster sense of humor. He cared for animals; dogs in particular. Among his most treasured friends and work companions was a white Eskimo Spitz, Heidi, and his and Maxine's most recently treasured Belgian Malinois, Sadie. Tim's favorite thing to be called was Dad. Surviving Timothy are his wife, Maxine, and their children Richard (Amanda) Roberson, Kathleen (Theodore) Hammond, Lynn (Glenn) Graves, Gale Roberson, Theodore (Robin) Roberson, Tamara Roberson, his many grandchildren and great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and his sister Marion (John) Rantanen. He is predeceased by his daughter Cynthia (Mike) Pethybridge, his parents, Gordon and Elizabeth Estes Roberson, and his older sisters Doris Roberson Garrabrandt and Ethel Roberson Marris. Tim passed away on March 31, 2025 at 12:30 pm surrounded by the care and love of his family. Calling hours will be held at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Fairview Drive in Cortland from 12:00 to 1:15 on Monday April 7 2025, followed by Funeral service at 1:30. A burial service will follow at Atwater Cemetery, Homer NY. The funeral service will be streamed at zoom.us (webinar ID: 95679280896 Passcode: 656212),